


For Now

by astraconcordia (OpheliaVinosec)



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, excessive pretention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-20 22:36:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14903415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpheliaVinosec/pseuds/astraconcordia
Summary: The Countess and the Apprentice share a moment after a nightmare. Between Books XI-Justice, and XII- The Hanged Man.





	For Now

**Author's Note:**

> for Elle.

That night, I dreamt of the gallows. I dreamt of the crowds. When I awaken, I am alone. These sheets are unfamiliar, the falls of moonlight held askew of what I thought I knew.  
Seconds pass, and it returns to me. Or am I the one returning? That’s right…she asked me to stay with her, to keep me close after being separated for so unbearably long. The scent of her perfume lingers where she did not. I struggle not to cry.

“Nadi… Nadia..?” I hope she is not nearby. My voice cracks between the syllables of her name, I must sound pathetic. In my untrained mouth, her name still sounds like song. I would have given anything for a night like this, to rest near her and curl into her embrace. But she gave the blessing freely…   
The sheets are creased in the shape of her. She was here. But now? I stagger to my feet. I wonder where the tremors in my legs have come from. This weakness is only familiar when the nightmares come. Did she have a nightmare too? Did she try to rouse me, and fail? Did she fall, seeking solace, did she—

“My love, is that you?”

I wheel around. My heart is ready to leap from my chest. Her voice is the ancient night, deep and sonorous and asking past the shell of what I think I am. I gravitate towards the sound, seeming as though her voice comes from the moon itself. Sheer curtains frame her balcony, the doors thrown open to the summer air. The diaphanous fabric overhead rustles in the breeze, inviting me out. Marble, vine-wrapped columns form the copse within which she rests. Her skirts pool at her feet, almost blue under the full moonlight. Her noble face is calm, but drawn when she turns to face me. I almost wonder if I disturbed her. I hesitate at the threshold, knowing I cannot hide my disorientation. Does she…does she want me here after all?

“It’s alright…” a long, statuesque arm reaches out to invite me nearer. A smile touches her features, wan but luminous. She puts aside the book in her lap, moves to stand like silk unfurling. The sight of her still welcoming and warm despite the unspoken truth of our positions here breaks me into pieces. For the moment, it is only she and I. I could have crawled to her if she bid it so. A great tension snaps inside me.   
Inside us.

Her arms are strong, but soft. She collapses into me as I into her. Her crown is cast aside, for now. The only magic of mine is that which brings us comfort, for now. We are only Nadia, and I. For now… We fall into an easy waltz. Her hand, softer than reality cups my face. My hands card through her hair, and she relaxes. No music sets our time. Her nightgown flutters, winglike. The dance is enough to distract us, for now…

Neither she, nor I are the lead. Our hands fit together as they will. Our movements inform one another’s. Sometimes we step on one another’s toes. Serenity shatters into laughter, transitioning from silence to sweetness as effortlessly as day into night. Nadia pulls me close, cradles me against a column wreathed in Proserpina-vine. The shadows veil us.  
“Do you remember the dream?” the words come before I bid them. Her expression falls, hands idly tracing the angles of my face. For a moment, she looks someplace beyond me, searches desperately for the words.

“I…” she hesitates. In my mind’s eye I see her crumpling under the onslaught of a new headache. I open my mouth to speak, but she passes her pointer finger over the seam of my lips- A hush; a reassurance. No pain blossoms on her face, no tense of the shoulders.  
“A shrine in the Temple district was falling into the canal. It was my task to condemn it, but I could find no such place.” Nadia shakes her head, waving away some other thought left unspoken. She leans in, pressing her forehead to mine.

“Saying it aloud…makes me wonder why it woke me in the first place.” She scoffs mirthlessly.  
I can only shake my head, reach out to cup her face in return. “No it…it matters.” The details of my dreams peel away before I can share. Perhaps it is better that way. There will be no prophesying tonight.

We are silent for a long while. A breeze raises the edges of our clothes and makes a cocoon of our embrace for the briefest of moments. Soft fingers stroke over my cheeks. Deep red eyes smolder in the silver light. The velvet night reminds me of another night not long ago… I let my eyes drift closed, my heartbeat slowing.

“I suppose staying up this late will do neither of us any good.” She says at last. Her fingers trace over my features, and I cannot help but relax into the touch. I nod. Even if sleep eludes us, knowing she is resting near me is enough. I wrap my arms about her waist, and she took pulls me close. Together, we retreat back into her bower. The stillness is welcome, now that I know she shares it with me.

For now, this is all I need.


End file.
